You are here

'Idol' James Durbin's New Album Full Of Motley Crue Connections

Although he didn't win "American Idol," there were many who thought James Durbin should have, or at least should have had a shot at it in the finale. But six months later, the fourth-place finalist has a new album ready to drop. But before that, a new video seemed in order.

To get his fans amped up for the release of Memories of a Beautiful Disaster, James Durbin released a couple singles from his first album in September and October. As is common in the music industry these days, the songs also have videos. Just five days before the album was to drop, Durbin posted to VEVO the video to his second single, "Love Me Bad." Although the song and video are a far cry from the style of Judas Priest (with which he performed on "American Idol"), they are reminiscent of the hard rock and hair metal bands that the young rocker had no problem covering during his stint on the reality singing contest. And that seemed to be the direction he was going all along, so if anyone was expecting Metallica or Lamb of God, well... think Motley Crue.

Several of the songs on the new album were co-written with Marti Frederiksen, according to the new album review f rom Brian Mansfield at "Idol Chatter," a name seen alongside many "American Idol" alumni projects. He's worked with Daughtry (on his latest single, "Crawling Back To You"), David Cook (on a track on the This Loud Morning), Bo Bice (co-wrote the hit "The Real Thing" with Kara DioGuardi), and co-wrote "Undo It" and "Mama's Song" with Carrie Underwood, DioGuardi, et. al. for her Play On album. Frederiksen has worked with many of the acts that became popular with the hard rock/hair/glam metal scene of the 1980s and early 1990s: Def Leppard, Scorpions, Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne.

Lending his talents also to Memories of a Beautiful Disaster was lead singer for Sixx:A.M., the band founded by Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx that went on to do the gold-certified soundtrack to Sixx' bestselling book, The Heroine Diaries, producing the hit, "Life Is Beautiful." He and Frederiksen combined with Durbin to write the first track on the album, "Higher Than Heaven."

The Motley Crue connection is even stronger on the song "Outcast." Mick Mars, the Crue's guitarist, not only co-wrote the tune but also plays on the track.

Although there is no guarantee that the Crue connection will help Durbin in his budding music career, it probably won't hurt it any, either. Motley Crue has sold over 80 million albums worldwide (25 million in the U.S.).

So if the music -- and the "Love Me Bad" video -- seem to hearken back to the 80s or even the early 90s, when hard rock reigned supreme before that whole grunge thing kicked in, there are several good reasons.